Toy tractor



March 26, 1957 J. H. CARTER TOY TRACTOR:

Filed May 21, 1954 jvwz nzr Joseph H Carter United States Patent 2,1 ,305 TOY TRACTOR Joseph H. Carter, Rockford, 1]]. Application May 21, 1954, Serial No. 431,520

1 Claim. (Cl. 46-221) This invention relates to toy tractors and the like and is more particularly concerned with improvements in the steering gear.

Toy tractors are generally provided with a rigid nonrotatable support under the front end for the front wheels, with the result that such toys are not easily maneuverable and the tires make black streaks wherever the wheels are skidded sidewise. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide an improved caster mounting for the front wheels to improve maneuverability and avoid having the tires scuff the floors or table and make unsightly marks.

Another object is to provide as the front wheel spindle a simple inexpensive headed pin having a bent lower end portion on which the dual wheels are carried, thus giving the caster eifect without a special and expensive caster construction. The two cast halves of the body of the tractor are, moreover, constructed in the front end portions thereof to accommodate the heated upper end portion of the pin therebetween so as to provide radial and end thrust bearings for the pin when the two halves of the body are fastened together, whereby to provide free swivelling action of the pin, as required for the castering action.

Still another object is to provide an improved wabble mounting for the axle of the dual wheels on the bent lower end portion of the pin so as to allow the wheels to shift their position and compensate for irregularities in the surface on which the toy runs. This feature, combined with the caster feature, makes for straighter running when the toy is given a shove.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a toy tractor embodying the front wheel gear improvements of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a slightly enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a front end view of the tractor, illustrating the wabble feature;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the headed bent pin as it appears before the slotted lower end is clinched on the axle of the dual wheels, and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 6 designates a toy tractor, the elongated body 7 of which is split lengthwise in a vertical plane through the middle, the two halves 8 and 9 being in the form of castings placed in abutment and fastened together by rivets like that indicated at 10, as is common practice in the manufacture of various toys. In the present instance, however, the front end portion of the body 7 has two coaxial radial bearings 11 and 12 formed by registering halfround recesses in the body halves 8 and 9 which accommodate the front wheel spindle or pin 13 with a free working fit. The pin 13 has its upper end upset to 2,786,305 Patented Mar. 26, 1 957 provide a semi-spherical head 14 which is disposed with ample operating clearance in the space 15 between the upper bearing 12 and the top wall 16 of the body 7, the head 14 serving thereby to retain the pin 13 against downward displacement from the radial bearings 11 and 12 and at the same time assuming the end thrust by point engagement at the center of the semi-spherical top surface thereof with the bottom surface of the top wall 16. In that way thepin 13 is assured of an easy working fit in. the body 7 so that it will turn freely'in the castering of the front dual wheels 17. In other Words, castering is obtained without a special expensive caster construction, the pin 13 being merely bent, as indicated at 18, at a point slightly below the bottom of the body 7 to provide the angularly extending lower end portion 19 on the lower extremity of which the axle pin 20 carrying the dual wheels 17 is mounted. For economy of construction and to provide at the same time for a certain amount of wabble of the axle 20 in a substantially vertical plane, so that the dual wheels 17 will shift their positions to compensate for irregularities and unevennesses in the floor or other surface over which the toy is run, I prefer to provide a longitudinally extending slot 21 in the lower end portion 19 opening from the extremity thereof in which the axle pin 20 has a loose fit, and then to bend the tangs 22 on opposite sides of the slot inwardly just enough to confine the axle pin 20 permanently in assembled relation on the lower end of pin 13 but not enough to interfere much with its freedom to Wabble in a substantially vertical plane to the extent indicated by the inclined axes ab and cd in Fig. 3.

In operation, it will, of course, be understood that the toy tractor 6 has for its support the usual pair of large rear wheels 23 in addition to the front dual wheels 17, and by virtue of the novel steering gear construction above described, the toy can be maneuvered about on the floor or on a table or other surface without scufiing, marring or marking the surface, because of the freedom with which the wheels 17 caster. Much greater freedom of castering is obtained with my construction because there is no limitation imposed upon the freedom of operation by any attached actuating mechanism, the castering occurring entirely in response to the direction of push or pull on the body 7 of the toy. Straight line movement is assured When the toy is given a shove in a given direction, because of the way in which the front wheels 17 in addition to castering are free to tilt laterally in either direction relative to the pin 13, as seen in Fig. 3, to compensate for slight irregularities in the floor or other surface over which the toy happens to run. The play value of the toy is, therefore, greatly enhanced as a result of this improvement without appreciably increasing the cost of manufacture of the toy, if there is, in fact, any increase. The increased maneuverability of the toy tractor is especially appreciated when the child couples the tractor to other toy implements to be drawn thereby, such as corn pickers, planters, and the like, because the movement of the toy tractor is more realistic with the front wheels turning in the direction of movement instead of being rigid and having to be skidded around a turn.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claim has been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

Iclaim:

In a toy, a wheeled vehicle comprising a body having a vertical bearing provided in one end thereof, and means on said body defining a horizontal surface in vertically spaced relation to the upper end of said bearing, a vertical spindle rotatably received in said bearing and having a head on its upper end preventing downward displacement of said spindle from said bearing, said spindle 3 having steering wheels on the lower end, said head abutting said horizontal surface to assume upward thrust, whereby said spindle is adapted to support the associated end of said body, an appreciable length of the lower end portion of said spindle protruding downwardly from said body and being bent at a small angle to the pivotal axis of said bearing and spindle for a castering action on a correspondingly small turning radius in relation to the radius of the steering wheels, the lower end of said spindle having an upwardly extending slot provided therein, an axle loosely disposed in said slot in crosswise relation to the spindle and adapted to have oscillatory and rotary movement, means retaining said axle against downward displacement from said slot, and said steering 4 wheels being mounted on the opposite ends of said axle in closely spaced relation to opposite sides of said spindle for rolling and steering support of the body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 438,422 Pederson Oct. 14, 1890 1,856,538 Case May 3, 1932 2,524,695 Daugherty- Oct. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,636 Great Britain 1887 965,008 1950 France Feb. 8, 

